Vista Advisor Run Through

Posted By
On
February 2, 2007 @ 2:43 PM
In
System Tune-Up Help |
No Comments

Q: So, you told us all about Vista last week, along with mentioning something about the Upgrade Advisor. I know Vista comes out tomorrow, but I’m still a little leery of trying this thing out. Have you done it? If so, can you tell me exactly how it will go?

A: You know, that is an excellent question. It’s not bad at all to be a little skeptical about trying out the new Windows Vista operating system. If you’re used to your XP computer, you’re probably dreading the change and there’s nothing wrong with that. Of course, you don’t have to upgrade to Vista, but if you want to learn some more about it, come along with me today. I have done the Upgrade Advisor and let me tell you, it’s completely painless. Let’s give it a look see!

First, you’re going to need to go to this Web site, which was designed by Microsoft to help get everyone, who is interested, ready for Vista. With the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor, you will be able to find out first of all, if your computer will be compatible with Vista and secondly, which version of the new operating system will be best for your PC. So, go to the site and then click on the link that says “Download Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor.”

Next, click Run and let it go. It will only take a minute or so for this part, depending on your Internet speed. Once that’s done, click Run again and the setup wizard window will come up. Click Next to get started. The next screen is their license agreement, so you’ll want to read through that and then click I Agree. Click Next when you’re done.

Now, the next screen will ask you if you want to create a desktop shortcut for the Advisor program or not. I think it’s a good idea to do this, because once you have that shortcut, you can easily run the program again and again if you so wish. You may only want to run it once, which is fine too, so you may not want to create a shortcut. Either way, click the option that says “Create Desktop Shortcut” or “Don’t Create Desktop Shortcut.” It’s your choice. Then click Next.

The program will then install onto your computer. This only takes a few seconds. If you want to run the program right away, just click Close and it will launch. If not, uncheck the option for it to launch and you can just run it later. You can then read through the directions, etc. and when you’re ready to go, hit the Scan button.

The Advisor program will then prepare your computer for the scan. While it’s doing that, you can click on any of the buttons at the bottom of the page to learn about the different versions of Vista. You can choose from Compare Editions, Ultimate, Home Premium, Business and Home Basic. If there’s a certain one you would like to know more about, click on it and a whole page of information will come up for you. You can read about each one’s features, etc. It’s a great tool for learning about the new operating system you just might be using very soon.

Once the scan is finished (it only takes a few minutes or so), click on the See Details button. The first thing you’ll see is if your computer will be able to handle Vista or not. If it can’t, you probably won’t want to go any further, but if it can, look to the left and you will see which version they think will work best on your PC. Mine happened to be the Home Basic version, which is what I bet several of you will get as well.

Next, you will see some information typed out about your system. The Advisor will go through your system requirements, your devices and your programs. It will tell you if there are any potential problems or not and if there are, just click on the See Details button to read about them and get possible ways to fix them before you upgrade. My scan didn’t have any trouble with the first two, but I did have to go over some things with my programs. It’s not a big deal though, so don’t panic!

If you’re very much interested in getting Vista right when it is released, you’ll want to make sure you read through all of the information about your system carefully. It’ll be very helpful for you. You can also print out your information sheet if you want. Just go up to the top right hand corner and click on Print Task List. Or you can save it by clicking on Save Report. Once you’re all done, use the X to close the program down. If you ever want to run the scan again, just open the program back up and hit Scan. That’s all there is to it.

So, you see, that wasn’t so bad! The Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor is very helpful for anyone who wants to make the switch over to Vista. If you think about it, you can’t do anything until you know whether your computer can handle it or not and this is the best and quickest way to find out. Now, as I said before, I’m hoping to upgrade my computer here in the office to Vista in the very near future, so hopefully I’ll be able to inform you all about some Vista topics. Until then, prepare yourself and wait for the release, which is tomorrow, January 30, 2007! Get ready, ’cause here it comes!